Far away and much the same

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/09/2021 (1662 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It struck Hannah Whiteway that despite being separated by almost 7,000 kilometres of land and sea, she and her new Peruvian friends were more similar than different.

For one, they all came from Indigenous cultures. Whiteway is an Ojibwa woman originally from Berens River First Nation adn now living in the North End. Her Peruvian counterparts, Arleith and Gilmer, in a Canada World Youth exchange program were from one of the 51 Indigenous peoples of Peru.

“We share this thing where we get a spirit name,” she said. “They had the same thing out in Peru.”

The 21-year-old Whiteway applied for an internship through Canada World Youth, a group dedicated to enhancing “understanding of international partnerships.” For Whiteway, the goal was to learn about other Indigenous cultures.

When she was accepted, the plan was to travel to Peru to meet her Amazonian counterparts face to face. The pandemic put a damper on that, however, and the program shifted online.

She was put through Spanish classes, and later she helped to teach English. She met her two counterparts over Zoom. The experience helped open Whiteway’s eyes to just how big the world can be.

“It felt like a really great connection. I feel like there’s a lot more out there,” she said.

Whiteway and her counterparts shared their cultures and histories. They discovered many common threads, not the least of which are colonial pasts. Peruvian elders joined their video calls during the first two weeks to discuss their history.

One similarity that stood out was a love of music. Gilmer played a guitar and sent Whiteway songs to help her learn Spanish, something she incorporated into her own lessons when teaching English.

“Music is really inspiring. It connects people,” she said Whiteway said she shared with her counterparts a belief in the healing power of music.

“It’s just really uplifting,” she said. “We’re still here, resilient and strong.”

Another important parallel between the two cultures is their respect for nature, said Whiteway. They both “view Mother Earth as a sacred being.”

To that end, Whiteway and her counterparts organized matching clean-ups in their respective areas. Arleith and Gilmer gathered people to help clean a nearby river. Whiteway put out the call for people to clean St. John’s Park.

“I didn’t think it was going to be as difficult, but it’s tough just gathering people that want to do work within the community,” she said.

But in the end, she succeeded. Family and friends got together and used the gloves and garbage bags Whiteway provided to clean the park — and on that same day, her counterparts picked clean a river half a world away.

Despite being only 21, Whiteway often spoke about “the youth,” as though she were not one herself. She seems to have readily assumed a leadership role; although, she wrote in an article for Canada World Youth: “I do not think we need to necessarily lead the youth. Instead we must give them these platforms and hand over the torch.”

Perhaps she and Gilmer grew into this together.

“He wanted to help the youth create something for themselves to make a better future for their families and themselves,” she said.

The program has ended, but Whiteway, Arleith and Gilmer still talk.